The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Last home game Friday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m.
By Than Acuff
It was a week of mixed results for the Crested Butte Titans girls’ basketball team, but it started on a high note as the Titans handed the Telluride Miners a 26-15 loss on the road on Tuesday, February 4.
The Miners have struggled the past couple of years but have been on a slow rise and so head coach Anna Bressnick made sure her team wouldn’t let the win get away from them.
“They were a better team than we’d seen in the past and I told the girls we need to play and do it right,” says Bressnick.
While the team heeded Bressnick’s words, the Miners put up a fight through the first half. While Crested Butte took a 7-5 lead early, the Miners fought back in the second quarter to tie the game 10-10 by halftime.
Crested Butte has struggled in the third quarter in several games this season but not against Telluride as their defense clamped down to hold the Miners scoreless the entire quarter while their offense dropped in nine points and held their lead to the final horn for the 26-15 win.
“We’ve started fronting players on defense and they did a really good job of it,” says Bressnick.
Six Titans scored led by Calla Fenlon with eight points, including two three-pointers, Molly Miller who scored five and Hadley Brewer and Ella Davis who dropped in four points each.
“Almost everyone contributed,” says Bressnick. “We spread the love around on offense and that’s a big deal.”
Crested Butte then had two tough tests ahead of them at the end of the week hosting the Ridgway Demons on Friday, February 7 and then the Cotopaxi Pirates on Saturday, February 8.
The Demons came into Crested Butte on a five-game winning streak including beating several common opponents such as Telluride by wider margins. Regardless, Bressnick was committed to her plan to honor the seniors at Senior Night and start them for the game.
“It was their night,” says Bressnick. “I wanted that for the seniors.”
While the Demons built a 5-2 lead, it was still a positive experience as Titan senior Emerson Kaufmann scored the bucket for the Titans. Once the starters took the floor, it still took some time to get their feet underneath them as Ridgway built an 18-5 lead early in the second quarter.
Crested Butte then started clicking as Fenlon hit a step back three-pointer, spun inside for two more and Miller had a block, a steal and scored at the buzzer to pull Crested Butte back to within six points.
“Once we got everyone in and settled, we played well and got it going in the second quarter,” says Bressnick.
The Titans continued their momentum to open the second half, but the Demons started to push the pace and pull away in the fourth quarter for the 43-24 win. Miller led with 11 points followed by Fenlon with seven points.
“They just started running on us and we didn’t really have an answer for that,” says Bressnick. “The flow of the game was squirrely and never quite got right.”
Crested Butte returned to the floor of Mt. Olympus on Saturday to host the Custer County Bobcats and found themselves in embroiled in a four-quarter battle with Bobcats as neither team managed to build any semblance of a scoring gap. Custer County had one standout player at point guard and Bressnick called on Rio Crabtree to shut her down. Crabtree did the job while Miller, Lola Wright and Cecilia Naughton provided the scoring.
The game remained back and forth but once Custer’s top player picked up her third foul in the second quarter and had to sit to avoid picking up a fourth foul so early, the Titans started to pull away.
Naughton had a steal for a layup, Miller drove coast-to-coast for two more, Wright scored inside and when Miller scored again and Crabtree closed the first half with a six-foot jumper, the Titans were out front 21-15 at halftime.
“Rio’s become one of our best defenders and she held their top scorer to two points in the first half and that’s impressive,” says Bressnick.
The Titans held their lead through the third quarter as Crabtree knocked down another jumper, Davis got in on the scoring as well and Wright continues to find her confidence with the ball turning and driving to the hoop for two more for a 27-22 Titans’ lead late in the third.
The Bobcats eventually tied the game, but Wright, Miller and Crabtree responded with additional baskets, but Custer County eventually pulled ahead by one with just under two minutes to play and looked to kill the clock.
Crested Butte was forced to foul to stop the clock and Custer County hit the needed free throws to eke out a 40-39 win. Once again, the Titans spread the scoring around as Miller scored 16, Wright had a breakout game with 11 points and Crabtree and Naughton scored six and four points respectively.
“That was the best game I’ve seen Lola play, she was the player I know she is,” says Bressnick. “We were one tick short on the scoreboard but that’s the best game I’d seen them play all year. I saw confidence in them.”
The Titans look to keep building on their new defense and their confidence on offense as they continue with their frantic schedule with Gunnison on the road, Lake County at home on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then back on the road Saturday to take on Cotopaxi.
“We got a big week, a big three weeks really” says Bressnick. “We’re gonna make the most of it.”